Q.You recently completed a successful project at work and you’d like to have the accomplishment recognised around the office. How do you do it?

A. With modesty and great care. While your accomplishment may be exemplary, you don’t want to alienate anyone by promoting it too aggressively, said S. Gary Snodgrass, executive vice-president and chief human resources officer at Exelon, an energy company in Chicago. “Focus on ‘we,’ not ‘me’,” Snodgrass said. “Individuals will have a better chance of receiving kudos for their work if they put their egos on the shelf and emphasise how the outcome was the result of a team effort.”

Q.In general, why is recognition so important?

A.On the most basic level, compliments make employees feel appreciated. And being recognised for good performance makes the effort feel more worthwhile, said Cindy Ventrice, president of Potential Unlimited, a consulting firm in Santa Cruz, California. “Praise is energising; we do better when we feel valued,” she said. From a practical perspective, she added, formal recognition also provides a tangible basis for promotions, bonuses and raises.

Recognition of employees can help employers, too. Managers’ praise of extraordinary achievement can inspire other employees to continue the trend, according to Chester Elton, senior vice-president for performance recognition at .C. Tanner, a consulting and training company in Salt Lake City. “It’s amazing how one good review leads to others,” said Elton, who with Adrian Gostick was co-author of The Carrot Principle: How the Best Managers Use Recognition to Engage Their People, Retain Talent and Accelerate Performance. “We all want to contribute to a community that’s doing good work, so when we see colleagues being recognised, it inspires us to strive for recognition as well.”

Q.How do companies celebrate individual success?

A.That depends on your manager and the culture of the workplace. Some businesses — usually smaller companies — take time out to acknowledge every milestone, creating an environment where all notable performances are applauded with cake, pizza parties and other forms of back patting. Other companies, rarely if ever, support public encouragement, perpetuating a sense that exceptional success should be part of the job.

Many employers fall somewhere between these two extremes. Patti Hathaway, chief executive of the Change Agent, a management consulting firm in Columbus, Ohio, said that at most companies common forums for acknowledgement are the company intranet, monthly newsletters and regular e-mail blasts. “The people who run these are always looking for positive examples and stories,” Hathaway said. “Recapping your success in these outlets is a win-win approach that gets you the recognition you deserve.”

Q.What are the most effective ways to obtain the attention you seek?

A.Create a paper trail. Send out e-mail with pertinent sales figures. Circulate memos that recap your team’s stellar performance. Forward select customer accolades to your boss.

Julie Moore Rapacki, president of Polish Your Star, a consulting firm in Edina, Minnesota, says that it can even be acceptable to ask customers to detail some of your accomplishments directly to the boss, so that reports of your success come directly from those who have experienced it first-hand. “If they thank you verbally, don’t be shy about asking them if they would put it in writing to your boss,” she said. “Sometimes customers will say more about your performance than you ever could.”

Q.To what extent should you credit your colleagues?

A.Certainly give credit where credit is due. If you worked on the bulk of a project with a group of diligent co-workers, acknowledge them immediately. If you completed most of a particular task independently but turned to one or two colleagues to pick up the slack, highlight their contributions as well.

Vince Thompson, principal of Middleshift Consulting, a consulting firm in Los Angeles, says that sharing credit not only makes colleagues want to work with you, but also shows the boss that you’re more interested in the team. “It’s hard to have success in the workplace without working with other people,” said Thompson, author of Ignited!: Managers Light Up Your Company and Career for More Power, More Purpose and More Success (F. T. Press, 2007). “By sharing credit with others, you’re sending a message to everyone that while personal accolades might be important, they aren’t everything.”

Thompson added that employees should at all costs avoid stealing credit. That can create palpable animosity in the workplace, and can repel colleagues from wanting to work with you down the road. In worst-case situations, it can even lead to dismissal.

Q.Are there risks in trumpeting your own accomplishments?

A.Perhaps the biggest danger is being accused of narcissism and selfishness. Employees who market their performance excessively also run the risk of being perceived as blusterers who’d rather grandstand than get the job done.

Still, Olivia Fox Cabane, executive director of Spitfire Communications, a marketing firm in New York, said that these perils pale in comparison to the risks of allowing personal achievements to go unnoticed. “If you don’t toot your own horn, there isn’t music,” she said.